Policeman Testifies Gunman Calm During Kidnapping

Lake Park policeman Michael Micochero thought he wouldn`t survive to tell a jury about the long hours a drug addict held him hostage last year.

His feeling of doom grew strongest, he testified Wednesday, when his captor instructed him to stop the patrol car at the end of a dirt road west of Jupiter.

``I literally felt when he wanted to stop that I wasn`t going to be a participant in the scenario much longer,`` Micochero told jurors in a West Palm Beach courtroom. ``I thought I was going to get shot. It was way out in the boonies. Way out.``

Ronald Crocker didn`t shoot, and in fact apologized to the rookie officer as they drove aimlessly around Palm Beach County`s north end in February 1984, Micochero said.

In court Wednesday, the officer had the upper hand as the state`s star witness against Crocker, who is on trial this week for kidnapping, aggravated assault, grand theft, resisting arrest, extortion, and possession of a firearm.

Defense and prosecution lawyers agree that Micochero`s ordeal began after he and another officer went to Crocker`s hotel room just before midnight Feb. 16, 1984 to investigate a complaint about unpaid rent.

While in the room, Crocker told the officers of his longstanding drug addiction problem and offered to act as a go-between in a cocaine buy.

While the officers considered his offer, they were informed of an outstanding warrant for Crocker`s arrest for violating his probation on a burglary conviction.

After being told he was under arrest, Crocker pulled a gun from his suitcase and forced Micochero to take him for a ride, the lawyers say.

Crocker`s lawyers contend their client was legally insane when he pulled the gun from the bag. They say that temporary insanity was brought on by a toxic reaction to the cocaine he injected before the officers arrived.

The irrational state of mind eased, defense lawyers said, as the pair rode in the patrol car. Then Crocker began worrying about how he could best resolve the situation.

Micochero`s testimony seemed to contradict the insanity theory. The officer described Crocker as being fairly calm and in control, both before he pulled the gun and until the time of his surrender.

Prosecutor Sharon Wood asked Micochero what the pair talked about as they rode together.

``He wanted to know what I would do in this situation. He asked me that a few times,`` Micochero told the jury. ``I told him if I was in his situation, I`d give myself up, of course.

``There was always a little conversation -- screaming or swearing. I was doing the majority of the screaming. I was the one who was getting the most excited.``

Crocker freed Micochero and surrendered to police more than four hours after the ordeal began.